Well, I found myself with a date with Sunset Shimmer…kinda.
Starlight asked Sunset to come to Equestria for me, hoping that Sunset and I hanging out would calm me down to ask her the big question.
Or the “not-so-big” question, since I wanted to go on a date with Sunset, not marry her! One step at a time.
Still sitting on my bed in my room with Starlight in front of me, I said, “Well, guess I need to think of what to do with Sunset tomorrow.”
“Yep.” Starlight walked to my still-closed bedroom door.
But when she opened the door with her magic, seven figures that were leaning against it fell forward to the floor with a thud and a grunt. Don’t know why I was surprised.
Twilight, who lay in the center of the pile, rolled Rainbow and Pinkie off her and pointed at the door. “Uh, see, Rarity? I told you the door didn’t have any scratches.”
“Yes, yes. I should have known you would be right, Twilight. This is your castle.”
“But I bet the next door has a scratch,” Rainbow said.
In case you thought I was annoyed, nope. I giggled at the "Nosey Seven" and Starlight said, “Well, at least you guys already know what I talked about with Eric.”
“And you can help me come up with ideas of what I can do with Sunset tomorrow.”
On the next day, in Sunset Shimmer’s human world and in the courtyard of Canterlot High School…
By a pedestal of the Wondercolts statue, though the statue itself had long been destroyed by Midnight Sparkle, stood Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and their friends. Sunset was preparing herself to enter Equestria and spend a day with Eric Reed. Her goal was to learn what was bothering Eric and help if possible, but understood to not ask him directly or risk upsetting him.
“Well, Sunset, it’s almost noon, and you and Princess Twilight told us that the time of day is the same in both Equestria and this world. You ready?” Rainbow asked.
“Yeah.”
“Have you thought of a good way to get Eric to tell you what’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked.
Sunset shook her head. “Not really, besides just talking and chilling with him. But I was going to ask Starlight if she had a plan and has any advice on doing it.”
Twilight placed a finger on her chin. “Hmm. Do you think that Princess Twilight would mind if I went with you? Perhaps I could be of help.”
Sunset rolled up her eyes, pondering Twilight’s idea. “Uh...I don’t think she would mind, but maybe it should just be me to go.”
“You sure? I never met him personally like you have, but you don’t know him that much better than me,” Twilight countered.
“It’s nothing like that. When I went last week, it didn’t take him long to figure out that I was there for him and not just visiting. I usually only go to Equestria if Princess Twilight ask me to, or if something was wrong.”
“Oh, I get it. If Twilight goes with you, he’ll know something’s up because she’s never gone unlike me,” Pinkie reasoned.
Sunset nodded her head. “Yep, and then he might think I’m trying to make him talk about something he doesn’t want to.”
“And Princess Twilight said not to do that,” Applejack reminded. “But in that case, should ya even try this at all?”
“If Starlight didn’t ask me to come ‘for Eric’ I wouldn’t, and I made a mess of things last week. But since she did, I think it’ll be all right.”
“Well, in that case, just be careful,” Rarity advised.
Spike added, “Yeah. You don’t want to risk making Princess Twilight mad if you upset Eric.”
“I’ll be careful. Anyway, I better get going, so wish me luck.”
“Good luck,” all of Sunset’s friends said at the same time.
Sunset took a deep breath and walked through one of the four mirror-like sides of the pedestal in front of her, as if made of air, not something solid.
Inside, a disorienting mix of colors, such as yellow, green, purple, blue, orange, and pink, swirled around Sunset. Or rather, she was the one swirling, as her body stretched and spun in the bizarre environment, yet the stretching was painless, though it felt strange. Despite experiencing it several times already, Sunset failed to resist screaming as she spiraled through the colorful void, and she couldn’t reach the other side soon enough. Even so, she thought it would be amusing to see how Eric would react to being in this odd realm.
In the library, I was pacing in front of the portal, waiting for Sunset. She would be passing through it at any moment. I played with the brim of my hat, with a design of my friends’ and sisters’ Cutie Marks, to try to calm the ‘ol nerves.
I felt joy, knowing Sunset was coming to spend the day with me. But my heart was beating at twice its normal speed and power, knowing the Sunset Shimmer was coming and I was going to ask her out. Surprised I wasn’t sweating.
Worries about embarrassing myself, like I did with Diane Heart, aside, this was a time I appreciated Twilight being the Princess of Lists. She wrote one that listed everything I could do with Sunset. It was three times the length of my body, but it was rolled up in a black backpack, which I had on my back.
Speaking of Twilight, I thought she, Starlight or the others would have wanted to tag along; whether I liked it or not. But the “Nosey Eight” were nowhere in sight.
Finally, pink lights that sparked like electricity flowed through the cord-like attachments of the portal. The portal itself, which usually looks similar to a full-length mirror that’s twice my height, glowed pink.
Then out came a screaming gold Unicorn, who flew through the air end over end, and at me! I gasped and stretched my arms out to catch her, but she slammed into me with so much force, I was sent flying and rolled on the floor with her! My hat flew off my head as well, halfway across the library.
Heh, most friends greet each other with a high-five, fist-pump, or a hug. But Sunset “greeted” by ramming into me. Not that she meant to, of course.
When our rolling and grunting ended, I was on my back, and Sunset lay on top of me. Her turquoise eyes were spinning, and I just knew my face became red. Of course we would stop rolling in this kind of a position, because why not?
Once Sunset's eyes stopped spinning, her cheeks turned red, immediately rolled off me, stood up and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry, Eric! Guess I should’ve warned you that the mirror can send me out hard, and to watch it if you waited for me by it. Are you all right?”
Oddly, being floored by Sunset calmed me down, making me less tense now. “I-I’m okay, and I should’ve remembered the portal might send you out like that. Besides, you should get softer landings than what you got before by flying into books!”
Sunset giggled and since I was still lying on my back, and Sunset is Sunset Shimmer, she offered her hoof to help me up. I reached out to grab it, but before I touched it, Sunset leaned forward to wrap a part of her foreleg around my wrist, and pulled me up. It wasn’t quite the same as if she grabbed it with a hand, but it was something a pony had never done before. Let alone a Unicorn, who would normally pick me up with their magic. Though she did levitate my hat back on my head. Whether that was the moment she remembered she’s a Unicorn again, or if she just felt like picking it up with magic, I don’t know.
After I was on my feet, Sunset turned her head to look around the library. “Is it just you here, Eric? Is Starlight around?”
“Starlight? No, she’s off somewhere. Did you want her to hang out with us?”
“Uh, no, it wasn’t that. I just thought she would be around.”
“Ha, to be honest, I thought she would be too--”
"What’s wrong?”
That was close. I nearly blurted out that I thought Starlight would be nearby to watch me try to ask out Sunset. For obvious reasons, I shut up about it, and made circles on the floor with a foot. Ponies have really rubbed off on me.
I thought Sunset might press me for answers, but she instead complimented, “Uh...I don’t think I said it, but I like your hat.”
The compliment made me stop with the making of invisible circles and I calmed down on the inside some more. “You have to thank Rarity, because she made it.”
“Oh yeah, I guess the Rarity in this world is great at making stuff like hats as the Rarity in ‘my’ world. Oh, are those designs of Princess Twilight's and the others’ Cutie Marks on the hat?”
“Yep, and I asked Rarity to put Twilight’s and Starlight’s Cutie Marks near the top. Those two are my Equestrian big sisters, so I wanted theirs on the top to show I’m closest to them.”
“I wondered if that was why their Cutie Marks were on top, so it looks like I was right. What would you like for us to do first?”
“Oh! Uh…” I pulled out the list in my backpack and about two-thirds of it unfolded onto the floor. Okay, what could we do? Wait, what does Sunset like to do again? Uh, she likes to paint, but I don't feel like painting. Maybe we could check out the Antique shop? No, that’s what Twilight would want to do, not Sunset, and I don't want to go there anyway! Maybe we could get something out to eat?
And the funny thing is, if I wanted to know what Sunset liked doing, I could have asked her!
With me reading the list struggling to pick something, Sunset suggested, “Uh, I have an idea. You wanna take a walk around Ponyville?”
The idea surprised me, but I was fine with it. That would be much better than her watching me read a list all day. “Sure, we can walk around Ponyville.”
Walking beside Sunset through the streets of Ponyville, I tried to think of a way to make a move. But Sunset sometimes looked down and seemed to have something on her mind too, but I was too busy struggling to really notice it. I only saw two ponies in the area, by a brown one-story house, but they were out of hearing range. I wasn’t ready to make that move, but I was still calm enough to talk to Sunset as I could before my crush formed.
“You know, Sunset, we have gotten to be good friends, but this is the first time we have really hung out like this. We usually only talk in our journals.”
“Yeah, it is. I really should visit more and not only when something’s wrong.”
“Please do! And you saw my list, so we won’t run out of stuff to do.”
After a giggle, Sunset shyly asked, “So, uh, Eric, how is your world like compared to Equestria?”
Hearing Sunset ask that gave me a powerful wave of déjà vu, making me chuckle.
She cocked her head to the side. “What’s so funny?”
“The way you asked that reminded me of when Twilight asked that same question soon after we met.”
“Really?”
“Yep, but she had...other things on her mind so she didn’t do it right away. But during our first evening together, she asked me twenty-three questions about my world.”
“That’s an oddly specific number to use to say she asked you a lot of questions,” Sunset said with an eyebrow raised. Ha, she thought I picked that number randomly. Not so!
"That’s because it’s the actual number Twi asked. I counted them, but stopped after she passed a hundred questions during my third week in Equestria.”
Sunset let out a deep gasp. “Wait, she asked you over a hundred, and in just three weeks? Huh. The way she talked to me about it, she didn’t ask that many.”
“Of course not. For Twilight Sparkle, a ‘hundred’ questions are like ‘ten’ to you or me.”
“In that case, maybe it’s for the best that the magic from the ‘Nightmare Prevention Spell’ trapped in you blocks you from passing through the portal. If you two finally meet face-to-face, the Twilight that you like calling ‘Sci-Twi’ would probably want to ask you another hundred questions!”
“I didn’t even think about that. But I still can’t believe I forgot to tell her in our journals about my world’s nickname for her until you told her last week. She told me she really likes it.”
As I thought more about the Twilights’ tendency to ask a ton of questions about anything they’re curious about, Sunset gasped and asked, “Hey, Eric, you want to play some games?”
“Games? You mean something like ‘Dragon Pit?’ Because Starlight has a copy in the castle.”
“Well, we could, but I was thinking something like 'Snake Hunter'.”
“'Snake Hunter'? Okay, we can play that, if you remember how to play it. That and the other arcade games in Equestria are fun, but I wish Equestria had more advanced game systems like what my or even 'your' world has. I really miss them.”
“Well, if Princess Twilight can ever do something to let the magic stuck in you pass through the portal, and it’s okay with her, we can spend a whole day playing video games at my place. A game I think you would like is called ‘Tirek’s Revenge’ and I got it three weeks ago. It’s really fun.”
“Wait, you like playing video games that much?”
“Yep. Though I should warn you that I can be a little competitive and can get carried away in them.”
Wow, this was something I didn’t know about Sunset. She mentioned before she played some video games in our journals; which for some reason slipped my mind when I tried to pick something for us to do. But I didn’t know she liked them that much! She’s nice, cute, and a gamer!
Now in the area of Ponyville with some "old-school" style arcade games, in front of the one called "Snake Hunter", Sunset and I were preparing to play our first game. I offered to let Sunset go first, and she took it, and I was paying for both our games.
“You said you remember how to play, right?”
“Yeah, I remember. I didn’t play it much before I went through the portal for the first time, but I remember how it works. There’s even a game similar to Snake Hunter in ‘my’ world.”
“Well, in that case, show me what you got!”
Sunset didn’t have to be asked again. After I put a bit in the coin slot, or "bit slot", she gripped the joystick with a foreleg and started playing.
Snake Hunter is a side-stroller game, where you collect apples while avoiding, zapping with a small short-range bolt of electricity, or simply jump correctly on the snakes in your path.
“Okay, I jumped on that snake, now to grab those five apples. Got them, oh there’s another snake...ha, jumped over it too. Yeah, nice try, but you gotta do better than that! This game’s easier than I--no! That’s not fair! I jumped on the--okay, fine, I still have most of my health bar left. Now...”
Watching Sunset play that game, advancing from level to level, I thought about how I never liked her more than I did at that moment.
“…Okay, I’m close to the end of the sixth level, just got to get by these last two snakes. Yes, zapped the first, just one more to...what?! NO! I was so close!”
Sunset took losing like a gamer: by having a mini-temper tantrum! She stomped her hooves and whined, “Augh! Did you see that, Eric? I jumped squarely on the head of that snake, but it still took the rest of my health! This game cheated me!” Sunset turned her head to scan the arcade game area while scowling. “Hey! Who’s in charge of making sure these games work correctly?!”
With Sunset losing it over being “cheated”, I wondered if the warm feeling and happiness I felt was love. She was also hilarious, and I laughed at the mad but cute sight in front of me.
Unfortunately, Sunset snapped back to her senses and stopped scowling. She formed a cute grin and blushed. “S-Sorry about that, Eric. I told you I can get carried away when I play video games.”
I calmed down my laughing and responded, “Oh, it’s all right, Sunset, and I can be like that too. But 205,550,200 points is a good score.”
“Wait, you’re like that too with video games? This may be even more fun than I thought! In that case, let’s see what you got.”
“Gladly.”
Sunset backed away from the game, and I strutted to it, put in a bit, and started my turn. My own competitive streak kicked in, and it made me forget about trying to ask her out for the moment. I just wanted to beat Sunset’s score of 205,550,200 points.
“Okay, I got those three apples. Uh-oh, a snake. All right, careful, careful...come on...stomped it. Now to get those three apples and--oh, buck, where did that snake come--ha, got it! Now to...”
This more or less went on till I got to the part Sunset reached on her turn. I had about the same amount of health left as she did at this point, and my score was currently just below hers.
“...Yes, I got those six apples, and prepare for me to beat your score, Sunset! Oh, there are those two snakes. Good, jumped over the first one, now I just have to--wait, no! I jumped on it right! How did I lose the rest of my health?!”
I’m a gamer too, so I had my own little temper tantrum by stomping my feet over being cheated! “You know what, Sunset? You were right: this game does cheat!”
Now it was Sunset’s turn to laugh at the sight of a sore gamer. “Not so funny now, is it, Eric?”
And now it was my turn to give a big ‘ol embarrassed grin. "Yeah, and I said I can get carried away too. Oh, what’s my score?”
Both Sunset and I turned to the game screen, and saw I ended with a score of 203,350,200. She had a score of 205,550,200 on her turn.
If you failed math and can’t tell who won, Sunset hopping up and down and cheering should tell you who did, by 2,200,000 points.
“Yes! I might never be a princess, but I can still rule in video games!”
“But I was just getting warmed up, so one more game?”
“Sure. I don’t mind winning again.”
She even trash-talks like a gamer! At this rate, I was going to go from having a crush on Sunset, to straight-up falling in love with that mare! Cupid wouldn’t need to do his job this time.
In the second round, I won, with a score of 210,000,500 to Sunset’s 208,300,900.
I jumped in the air with a cheer and boasted, “Ha! Now who rules?!”
With a big, pouty frown, Sunset whined, “No fair! You were supposed to have lost your last bit of health ten seconds ago!”
“Maybe, but you didn’t mind it when you didn’t lose the rest of your health at that spot on your turn.”
Sunset's frown flipped into one of her more usual smiles as she chuckled. “Fine. One more game?”
“Of course. As you would say, I don’t mind winning again.”
Sunset even tried to make excuses for losing! I was definitely close to falling in love. But, any gamer will tell you that there’s no such thing as “one more game”. Especially since this was the second “one more game”.
Thus we played another seven games before we had enough. She won five of the nine total games we played. And no, I did not let her win any of them. I don't throw games, not even to my crushes.
Walking beside each other as we left the area with the games, Sunset said, “Well, the next time I’m in Equestria, we’ll play another best-of-nine series in Snake Hunter. That was really fun!” In a more concerned voice, Sunset asked, “Oh, uh, how have things been lately?”
I had no idea where the change in Sunset’s mood came from, but I answered, “It’s been good. I’ve gotten over that--” I stopped myself from saying more, remembering how awful Sunset felt over what happened with Diane Heart last week and covered my mouth. Plus, I was supposed to be asking her out! A bout of nervousness took over and I stuttered, “Uh, I-I, well…”
“Do you still feel bad about it?”
“N-No, I don’t! I promise! I was just worried you might feel bad if I brought it up. Uh, let’s drop it.” I pulled out the list in my backpack to find something to suggest doing. Like before, most of it unfolded on the ground.
As my eyes were on the list, Sunset, in a kinder voice than usual, told me, “Hey, I don’t know if I ever told you, but you know that you can tell me anything, right?”
A pulse of courage flowed through me. I turned my head to Sunset and tried to force my lips to say I liked her, and if she wanted to go on a date. A real date, not a “pseudo-date” like the one we were having.
“Because, I’m your friend. You can ask me for help if you need it.”
And hearing the ‘friend’ word ended that moment of courage.
“I-I know I can, Sunset. And you can tell me anything and ask me for help too. Uh, you want to get a bite to eat?”
“I’m getting hungry, so that sounds good to me. You have a place in mind?”
“Yep, and I’m buying.”
“No, Eric, you don’t have to pay for me.”
“I think I do. Or do you have any bits on you?”
Sunset’s eyes widened, her face turned red, and she gave another cute nervous smile.
“I'll take your smile as a ‘no’. But I can cover for you, I promise.”
At an outside café, Sunset and I sat in chairs at a table, on opposite sides. She ordered two hayburgers, and I ordered a steak and cheese sub. Since some races in Equestria, such as Griffins, eat meat and visit Ponyville more often than they used to, more places in Ponyville offer meat to eat for those that like it; places that served it used to be rare. Steak and cheese subs were something I loved in my old world and Twilight tries her best to help me feel at home in Equestria, so she suggested making it something cafés and restaurants in Ponyville serve.
Fluttershy wasn’t nearly as bothered about it than I thought she would. In fact, ponies in general weren't as bothered about it as you might think.
Holding my sub, which at this point I ate about half of, I asked, “So, how’s those hayburgers?”
Finishing one of her two hayburgers, Sunset answered, “It’s good. Hay isn’t...something humans enjoy eating in 'my' human world, so there’s nothing like this to eat there.”
“That, and because the human anatomy can’t process hay. Things would not be fun for you if you ate those hayburgers in your human form, trust me.”
“The way you say that, it’s like you have personal experience.”
“I do.”
Sunset frowned, and for some reason I was more aware of those big eyes of hers. “Huh?”
“Once Trixie gave me a 'great and powerful dare’ to eat a hayburger, and...oh boy. Sunset, the next day was horrible!”
“Oh, it was that bad?”
“Yeah, it was that bad! After Twilight rushed me to Ponyville’s hospital to clear out the hay in me, she tracked down Trixie and gave her an earful! Then after I recovered, Twilight got on me a little for being dumb enough to do it.”
“Ouch, so Princess Twilight really looks out for you, huh? And is why you two should try dating.”
“Yeah, and sometimes she acts more like an Equestrian mom than an Equestrian big sister. But she’s like that to Spike and even Starlight too."
“I see.”
I made circles on the table with a finger, again thinking about how to make a move. As I did, I wondered if Sunset had any feelings for Flash Sentry. If so, I would have bailed out of asking her out, because I did not want to potentially be part of a love triangle! “Uh, how well do you and Flash Sentry get along? Is there any chance of you two getting back together?”
“Flash and me? Well, we’re friends, but we have no plans to get back together.”
Yes! “Have you, uh, gave any thoughts about getting another boyfriend? Uh, if you don’t mind me asking.”
“Oh, I don’t mind. I...guess I would like to find another one. But with the magical threats and villains my friends and I deal with, it might be dangerous to be my boyfriend! Why do you ask?”
Yes! “Uh, no reason, I was just wondering.”
Since I had the green light, it was truly time to get the nerve to ask Sunset out.
Yet the thoughts of her possibly thinking I looked weird, but was hiding it, again kept me from doing it. The memories of being picked on in second grade didn't exactly help.
Hey look, it’s Eric “Burn” Reed!
Come on, leave me alone!
Whining again?
I’m not whining! I just want you two to stop picking on me! I can’t help it if I’m not healed yet!
Whatever, whiny. But at least you look better with those scabs!
I had never been more frustrated about my paranoia issue.
Still, I was close. I also couldn’t shake the feeling that Sunset wanted to say something too. I didn’t want to ask her about it, though, if she didn’t want to tell me on her own.
Maybe some bowling could help us?